Approval rates
Judge Basse has maintained a lifetime approval rate of 42% across 8,000 lifetime decisions. His approval rate sits 16 points lower than the Seattle office average and 16 points below the national average of 58%. These figures are derived from a significant volume of cases, providing a clear view of his historical decision-making tendencies. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for your individual hearing.
Office- and national-level breakdowns of fully favorable vs denial rates aren't currently published by SSA in the per-office disposition data. The judge's own breakdown is the detail we have today.
Approval rate over time
Year-over-year approval rate across Judge Basse's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.
Decision pattern
Over his 4 years on the bench, Judge Basse has shown a steady approval trend. After starting at 39% in 2016, his approval rate reached 45% in 2017 and 2018 before shifting to 40% in 2019. This pattern suggests a consistent approach to evaluating evidence over his 8,000 lifetime decisions. The data reflects a stable pattern, indicating that his decision-making process remains anchored in his established judicial philosophy.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Basse's bench. Judge-specific preparation guidance requires a corpus of public Appeals Council decisions involving each judge, which we haven't built yet.
- Bring a clean treating-physician record. Longitudinal primary-care or specialist notes spanning the disability period, with consistent symptom documentation, are typically the strongest evidence at hearing. A single month's records usually aren't enough.
- Don't rely on consultative exams alone. If your medical evidence is built primarily around a one-time CE finding, expect detailed questioning. Supplement with treating-source statements where possible.
- Prepare for daily-activity questions. Have honest, specific answers about a typical day. Answers that conflict with the medical record (in either direction) tend to hurt credibility.
- Expect transferable-skills probing. A vocational expert will usually testify about jobs available to someone with your limitations. Your representative should be prepared to cross-examine.
Hearing with Judge Basse? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Seattle hearing office
The Seattle Hearing Office serves you and other claimants across Washington and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 judges who manage a high volume of cases, with the office currently maintaining a 58% approval rate. You can expect a formal hearing process where evidence quality is the primary driver of the outcome. See the Seattle Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration assigns cases through a workload-balancing algorithm, meaning the judge you are assigned is essentially random. Within the Seattle Hearing Office, lifetime approval rates among the bench range from 27% to 66%. Because of this variance, understanding the landscape of your local office is a helpful step in your preparation. For preparation purposes, the guidance is the same regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.